Automatic pistol and other small arm



J. W. FEARN Filed Jan. 15. 1922 AUTOMATIC PISTOL AND OTHER SMALL ARM r pa r k July 10, 1923.

Patented July 10, 1923.

JOHN WILLIAM FEARN, 0F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

AUTOMATIC PISTOL AND OTHER SMALL ARM.

Application filed January 13, 1922. Serial No. 529,023.

T 0 all in 7mm it m 0 concern:

Be it known that I, Join? WILLIAM FEARN, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at 91 ll eaman Street, Birmingham, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Pistols andOther Small Arms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to automatic pistols and similar small armsof the type wherein the striker or firing pin is mounted in a recoilingbreech-sleeve or similar member and is actuated by a hammer or tumblerthat is pivoted on the frame or body of the arm; the said inventionconsisting of a safety system that is adapted to render the weapon safeagainst accidental discharge by locking the striker to the breech-sleeveor the like; the said safety being preferably arranged so that, beforeactually locking the striker, it will displace the said striker to suchan eX- tent and in such a direction as will obviate any possibility ofthe same being struck by the hammer or tumbler in the event of thelatter being jarred out of bent or released from its retaining sea-r orthe like.

Thus, a pistol or fire arm embodying the said invention can, after thedisplacement and locking of the striker has been effected by the safetydevice, he carried with the hammer at full cock without risk of anaccidental discharge occurring.

According to the preferred application of the invention as applied to anautomatic pistol of the above-mentioned type, the safety catch ismounted in the side of the recoiling breech sleeve and comprises anoperating lever whose axis pin is formed with a cam that engagesdirectly with a recess in the striker; the formation of the said cam andstriker-recess being such that when the safety is off, the said strikeris free to be displaced forwardly on being struck by the hammer ortumbler and to be returned, after each hammer-impact, to its normalposition by the striker spring, whereas when the external lever isactuated for applying the safety, the axis-pin cam first projects ordisplaces the striker in the breech-sleeve through a distance sufficientto take its rear end completely out of the range of the falling hammer,and then positively locks the said striker to the breech sleeve, withthe striker spring under compression, so that when the safety is againtaken off, the spring will act to restore the striker to its normalrelationship with the hammer.

In the accompanying drawings, which show an automatic pistol fitted witha striker-locking safety-catch according to the preferred form of theinvention,

Figure 1 is a complete View of the pistol showing the disposition of thesafety catch on the recoiling sleeve.

Figure 2 is an enlarged section of Figure 1, on the dotted line 50, withthe striker pr0- jected and locked at safe Figure 3 is a similarsection, but showing the striker in the position in which it is held bythe strikerspring when the safe is taken off.

Figure 4 is a sectional View showing the arrangement of an auxiliarysafety-retaining device that is combined with the catch to spring-lockthe same in its on and off positions.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section showing the striker in elevation, andpart of the safety-catch in section.

The safety-catch illustrated in these figures is adapted to firstproject and then lock the striker in the manner above described andcomprises an external lever or finger piece 7) which is located on theside of the breech-sleeve c and whose axis-pin b has its bearing in ahol drilled through the said sleeve at right angles to, and in the sameplane. as the hole that contains the striker a and its spring e. Theinner end of the axis pin is formed with a cam-piece b which consists ofa tongue or rib that is disposed across the diameter of the said pinwhilst the side of the striker is formed with arecess a which is engagedby the safety-catch cam as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 5.v

Normally, or when the safety is off. the cam-tongue occupies a positionperpendicular to the length of the striker-recess as shown in Figure 3,and the striker is held by the thrust of its spring 6, in a positionwherein the front or forward shoulder a of the recess bears against theside of the cam, leaving the striker with its rear end projecting beyondthe back face of the breech sleeve, and with a capacity to make asufficient forward or inward movement (corresponding to the length ofthe unoccupied part of the recess) for impinging its nose on thecartridge cap when struck by the hammer, whereas when the external leveris shifted to the safe position by turning the same through an angle of90 degrees, the movement imparted to the axis pin causes the cam tofirst act against the shoulder b of the recess and push the strikerforwards into the forward position (Figures 2 and 5) where its rear endis out of reach of the falling hammer (Z, whilst on completion of thelever movement the cams come into a horizontal position in the plane ofthe striker axis in which it occupies the whole length of the recess andthus positively locks the striker against movement in either direction.

The safety catch itself is retained in both its on and off positions byan auxiliary spring bolt which may consist of a springac-tuated plungersuitably housed in the breech-sleeve, and adapted to engage with one orother of two recesses f, F that are formed in the safety axis-pin insuch relative positions that when the plunger is in engagement with therecess 7', it holds the safety in the on or safe position, whilst whenengaged with the other notch (as shown in Figure 4) it holds the cat-chin the off position; the spring 7 allowing the plunger to yield (whenthe safety-lever is positively operated) to peanit of the rotational orangular movement of the safety cam from the one position to the other.

As the cam end of the safety-catch axis pin is constantly in engagementwith the striker, the device above described also serves as a strikerstop and eliminates the necessity of providing a separate stop or pinfor retaining the said striker in position within the breech-sleeve.

Instead of providingfor the looking, or projection and locking of thestriker by a cam formation on a rotary axis pin, the operations may beperformed by a sliding catch or device which is so mounted in thebreech-sleeveas to be displaceable in a di rection at right angles tothe striker and is provided with a cam-acting part that engages with asuitably-formed recess in the said striker. Or a cam or similarformation on the displaceable catch or slide may, in some cases, bearranged to act on or engage with a projection or projections on thestriker in anv manner which will effect the locking of such strikerafter the same has beenmoved forward or taken out of the reach of thehammer by the. initial movement of the displaceab le device.

The application of the invention to other small arms wherein a striker,or firing pin is mounted in a recoiling breech-sleeve differs in noessential respect from its application to an automatic pistol having anexternal hammer as herein described.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A striker-locking safety comprising a rotatableelement which is mounted in the part that carries the striker and isprovided with a cam piece engaging a recess in the said striker: thearrangement being such that when the safety element is rotated from theoff to the on position, it first projects the striker beyond the reachof the hammer and then positively locks the same against movement ineither direction; the striker spring being compressed during theprojection so that it operates to automatically restore the striker toits normal position when the safety is takenofi'.

2. A striker-locking safety according to claim 1, wherein the safetyvelement is combined with an auxiliary spring bolt orlocking deviceforretainingthe safety in either its on or ofi' positions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

JOHN WILLIAM FEARN.

